How to Pronounce Bali, Canggu, Ubud, and Other Places

Wondering how to pronounce Bali and other places in the region? In this blog article, we will tell you just that, plus an Indonesian pronunciation lesson so you will never mispronounce any words during your time in the country.

First let’s watch this video to know how to pronounce Bali and other places in the province:

One thing you need to know about Indonesian language is that is a phonetic language, meaning each alphabet represents one sound. For example, the letter “A” is always pronounced /ɑ/ as in “father”. The only exception is the letter “e” which and can represent /e/ is in “bait” and /ə/ as in “about”.

Indonesian Pronunciation

Let’s learn how to pronounce Indonesian alphabets and the sounds they represent below.

Vowels

Vowel	Sound	Example
A	“ah”	Apa (what)
I	“ee”	Bibi (aunt)
U	“oo”	Buku (book)
E	“ey” /ə/ as in “about” /ə’baut/	Enak (delicious) ke mana ((to) where)
O	“oh”	Toko (shop)

Consonants that are pronounced the same as in English

Vowel	Sound	Example
B	“beh”	Babi (pig)
D	“dey”	Dadu (dice)
F	“eff”	Fosil (fossil)
H	“ha”	Halo (hello)
J	“jey”	Jalan (road/street)
L	“el”	Lele (cat fish)
M	“em”	Minum (to drink)
N	“en”	Nanas (pineapple)
S	“ess”	Susah (difficult)
W	“wey”	Wajah (face)
Y	“yey”	Yoyo
X	“eks”	Xenia (a car brand)
Z	“zet”	Zebra

Consonants that are pronounced the same as in English but without aspiration

Vowel	Sound	Example
K	“ka”	Kakak (older sibling)
P	“pey”	Papa (father)
T	“tey”	Tato (tattoo)

Consonants that are not the same in English

Vowel	Sound	Example
C	“chay” as in chat, chicken”	Baca (to read)
G	“gey” as good, Google	Guru (teacher)
R	“air”	Rumah (house)
Q	“kee”	Qur’an
V	“fey”	virus

Exercise

Pronounce the following words.

1. Bapak
2. Kuku
3. Mandi
4. Lalu
5. Ibu
6. Aku
7. Guru
8. Maaf
9. Bubur
10. Kaki
11. Vokal
12. Cuaca

Diphthongs – two vowels that make a single sound

Diphthong	Sound	Example
Ai	[ɑy]	pantai (beach)
Au	[ɑw]	pulau (island)
Oi	[oy]	tomboi (tomboy)

Exercise

Pronounce these words correctly.

1. pantai
2. santai
3. rantai
4. kalau
5. bakpao
6. pisau
7. amboi
8. konvoi

Consonant Clusters (two or more consonants placed together)

Consonant clusters	Phoneme	Example
ng	[ŋ]	ngobrol (to chat)
ny	[ñ]	nyamuk (mosquito)

Exercise
Pronounce these words correctly.

1. ngomong
2. mengerti
3. ngopi
4. nyaman
5. nyanyi
6. tanya

You might wonder about the meanings of words above, but they don’t about them for now as in this section we just focus on the pronunciation.

So do you know how to pronounce Bali and other places in the region now? If so, try to pronounce words you encounter in Indonesia. If you practice the pronunciation above, you should not have any problems with that. Do you want to take your Indonesian to the next level? Check out courses here.